Some Downtown Jersey City residents are grumbling about traffic and parking restrictions the city has issued for Mayor-elect Steve Fulop’s inauguration on Monday.

City officials issued the rules, which start Sunday at midnight and extend for 24 hours in a 10-block area around City Hall, for security purposes and to close off streets for an extended block party that begins Monday at 4 p.m.

York Street resident Steve, a 38-year-old who asked The Jersey Journal not to print his last name, said he thinks the restrictions are “inconsiderate” to residents of the area. Steve stressed that he is a strong Fulop supporter, but nonetheless thinks the street closures and parking restrictions on a weekday afternoon make the incoming mayor seem self-absorbed.

“So basically because the new mayor wants to have a party on a Monday afternoon, all the Downtown residents are going to (be) forced to plow our way through a crowd of people" after work, he said. “And we are going to have to scramble to find parking or park in a lot and have to walk a mile in the heat to get back.”

Starting Sunday at midnight, no parking will be allowed between Grand Street and Columbus Drive or between Barrow Street and Marin Boulevard. Motorists will be restricted from using the roads in between starting at 9 a.m. The rules end at midnight on Monday.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill defended the decision to block off streets to motorists and issue parking restrictions, saying the city needs to “facilitate” the hundreds of people (Fulop expects thousands) who will attend the inauguration ceremony and block party.

"We are hoping to mitigate the impact on the community, but know this may come as an inconvenience to some,” Morrill said. “However, we are hopeful that most residents will view this as a historic moment for Jersey City and will participate in the festivities."

She added that residents who live in the restricted zone will be permitted to park in Liberty Harbor North from Sunday to Tuesday mornings.

David Wrenn, a Hoboken real-estate agent who often does business near City Hall, was parking his car on Grove Street on Friday afternoon when a reporter with The Jersey Journal asked him about the parking/traffic rules.

“It’s going to be ugly,” he said. “It is our right as taxpayers who live here and park here to park where we want to park.”

The idea behind the block party celebration, Morrill said, is to allow as many residents as possible to attend.

The council on June 19 approved the restrictions starting at noon and ending at 8 p.m., but Morrill said additional hours were tacked on for “security” purposes. Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and other dignitaries are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony Monday, when Fulop becomes the city’s 49th mayor.